THE MARQUESS OF BLANDFORDsaid, he felt the justice of the remarks which had been made respecting the impropriety of discussing a variety of subjects upon the Motion for the adjournment of the House; but the subject upon which he wished to put a question to the noble Lord at the head of the Government was so important that he hoped the House would allow him to make a very few observations upon it. In the first place, questions like that which he was about to put were sometimes assumed to convey some insinuations prejudicial to the persons referred to in those questions. He assured the House that such was not his feeling upon the present occasion. No one entertained a deeper reverence or regard for the right rev. Prelates to whom his question related than himself, whether he regarded them as dignitaries of the Church or as ministers of Christ; but his question was rendered necessary in consequence of infirmities over which those rev. Personages had no control. He could conceive no position 590 more distressing than for a right rev. Prelate, who fully recognised the high and responsible character of his duties, to find a large accumulation of important business pressing upon him and demanding his supervision, to which, however, from physical causes, he was not able to bestow that attention which its importance required. He (the Marquess of Blandford) thought he was ranging himself on the side of those right rev. personages in putting his question, and that nothing would afford them more gratification than to hear, as he trusted he should hear, from the noble Lord, that the subject had received, and would still receive, the earnest consideration of the Government, He need not allude to the importance of maintaining the love of the episcopacy in this country; but he would put it to the Government whether, if it could he shown that during lengthened periods certain dioceses were left without any direct episcopal supervision, that was not a state of things calculated to create a doubt as to the value of the episcopacy as an institution, and, perhaps, even to bring it into contempt; and if so, was it not the duty of the Government to take steps to prevent any misconception arising as to the necessity of the episcopacy? At present, whenever such occasions arose as those he referred to, a colonial Bishop was called in to do the duties of the diocese, or a neighbouring Bishop took upon himself those duties in addition to the burden of his own diocese, and sometimes the Archdeacons were intrusted with the performance of certain episcopal duties, such as visitation; but there were other and most important episcopal duties which Archdeacons could not perform. He would only add, that the Act of Henry VIII., although a sleeping one, appeared to be one that would meet the present emergency. That Act enabled a Bishop, who required the assistance, to nominate two persons, of whom the Crown selected one, for consecration by the Archbishop. Such person might hold two benefices, and perform all the duties attaching to them, in addition to those which might be delegated to him by the Bishop who appointed him. That appeared to meet any difficulty as to endowment; but, even if the difficulty remained, he could not doubt that the right rev. Prelate who required assistance would willingly contribute a portion of his episcopal income for that purpose. He begged to ask the First Lord of the Treasury 591 whether, in consequence of the state of health of several of the Prelates of the Church, who were unhappily disabled from attending their dioceses, it was the intention of the Government to take any steps to put in force the powers of the Act 26 Hen. VIII., c. 14, "For the Nomination and Consecration of Suffragans within this Realm;" or, if not, whether the subject was still one which had occupied the attention of Her Majesty's Government with a view to providing a suitable remedy?
§ MR. HADFIELDsaid, before the question was answered, he wished to assure the House that he deeply sympathised with the noble Lord at the country being deprived of the episcopal services of certain Bishops. [Laughter.] He did not mean it as a joke, he meant it seriously. He regretted they were prevented from performing their duties through ill-health; but there were other duties which kept them from their dioceses, and he was sure the country would echo the wish which he expressed that they should be relieved from their Parliamentary duties in the House of Lords. Their presence in another place was a most painful scene to him—the most unpleasant of anything connected with his Parliamentary duties. What were the duties which required their presence in the House of Lords? Was there a single public measure, anything connected with the freedom, liberty, or welfare of the country, which had not been opposed by those right rev. Gentlemen? ["Oh, oh!"] He was speaking the voice of his constituents and of the country. And he maintained that the absence of the right rev. Prelates from the House of Lords would be a source of exultation throughout the land. He did not say this from sectarian feeling or in hostility to the Church, but in the belief that their presence in another place impeded the progress of true religion. He was confident that if he polled all the members of the Established Church he would find a vast majority to join him in soliciting that the Bishops should be relieved from taking their seats in the Legislature. He begged to ask whether the noble Lord had turned his attention to this subject, and whether he had it in contemplation to propose any measure to relieve the Bishops from their attendance in another place.
§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONwished in one word to express his earnest hope that the noble Lord would take into his serious consideration the subject which had been 592 mentioned by his noble Friend (the Marquess of Blandford). He believed there prevailed a general feeling that the interests of the Established Church were materially injured by the frequent inability of right rev. Prelates from age and infirmity to discharge their episcopal duties; and he hoped that as the appointment of Indian and Colonial Bishops afforded a good precedent, the noble Lord would turn his attention to this matter, believing, as he did, that that precedent might be well applied to the case of the Bishops in England.
MR. OWEN STANLEYsaid, that, being in some way connected with the subject which the noble Marquess had brought before the House, he begged to offer one or two remarks. He thanked the noble Marquess for having introduced the question, but he would take the liberty of observing that the appointment of suffragan Bishops under the Act of Henry VIII. would not meet the case in which he was more immediately interested. The Act of Henry VIII. could only be put in force at the request of the Bishop himself. No doubt, most hon. Members had read with great regret a correspondence published in one of the public papers of great circulation in this country. He was sure it must be a feeling shared in by all in that House that for the sake of the Church it was much to be lamented that such a correspondence should have been made public. He would take that opportunity of assuring hon. Members, both in that House and elsewhere, that that correspondence was published at the request of the Bishop, and therefore it might be fairly alluded to. He knew not whether he had better at the present moment repeat a portion of that correspondence. ["No, no!"] Then he would not do so; but he would say this, that he had taken all the means in his power with the right rev. Prelate himself, and through his relatives, to remedy a state of things which ought to be remedied. It was lamentable to know that any right rev. Prelate could so forget himself, and forget his high position, as to use such language as had been addressed by him to a clergyman who thought it was his duty to get a more efficient performance of the services of the Church. It appeared, therefore, to him to be incumbent on, the higher members of the Church and of the First Minister of the Crown to take some means to prevent a recurrence of these proceedings; for unless some remedy 593 were applied a great injury must ensue to the Church itself. He, therefore, begged to ask the noble Lord, not to put the Act of Henry VIII. in force, but to give his attention with a view to provide for a case where, from age and infirmity—for he (Mr. O. Stanley) knew that it was only from age, and from the infirmity of a mind once of the highest order,—a man, who was eminent for his virtues and his abilities—should unfortunately be so lost as to come under the censure of his friends. He hoped the noble Lord would give the House some assurance that means would be taken to prevent any similar occurrence.
§ MR. WIGRAMsaid, that this subject had engaged the attention of the Chapter Commissioners, and they had recommended a remedy, which was that of appointing Suffragan Bishops in cases where Bishops were unable, by age and infirmity, to discharge their episcopal functions. He concurred entirely with the noble Lord with respect to the importance of the subject, and he hoped Her Majesty's Government would pay attention to the recommendation of the Chapter Commissioners.
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONThe subject to which the noble Lord has called the attention of the House is one of very great importance, and one which justly deserves serious consideration. I can assure the noble Lord that it has not escaped the attention of Her Majesty's Government. It is a matter which is now, and has been, under the consideration of Her Majesty's Government; but, at the same time, I am sure the noble Lord and the House will see that it is a subject beset with many difficulties, and is not one on which a hasty or premature decision can be well arrived at. But it has, I repeat, engaged the attention of Her Majesty's Government, and we shall endeavour to find a remedy for the evil to which the noble Lord has alluded. With reference to the supplemental question, which has been put to me by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield (Mr. Hadfield), I must say that I do not at all concur in the opinion he has expressed that the Bishops are out of their place in taking their seats in the other House of Parliament, and I beg to inform my hon. Friend that it is not the intention of Her Majesty's Government to make any change in that respect. I hope no hon. Gentleman will put any further questions to me, at least upon this Motion, because hon. 594 Gentlemen must recollect that when questions are put to any hon. Member, and he has once spoken, he cannot speak again.